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Summary: The most useful item on my desk
Review: This is an easily portable reference book which has proved so popular in the office that I have trouble getting to use it myself. Well laid-out and clearly written, a very useful reference, particularly for those just starting with SQL.
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Summary: Straight to the point!
Review: This is a no nonsense book. It will begin to teach you about the fundamentals of usage of SQL and how to put it to use immediately. This is particularly good when you're beginning web programming such as ASP, ColdFusion, PHP, etc., and you need to start learning SQL pronto to insert in your scripts. It skips a lot of SQL and database theory and fundamentals, but it gets you going quickly on the practical side. This book is really useful. I recommend it to anyone.
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Summary: Well written and targeted to a specific audience
Review: Yet another well-written book by Ben Forta. This has got to be the smallest SQL book in existence. This is what makes it so great. I purchased this book for a handful of the more advanced users in my office. It allowed them to learn some basic SQL and bypass the very regimented structure of our report writer (Cognos Impromptu). This books carried them through SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY, ORDER BY, HAVING and then went into joins. Along the way it briefly touched on a few of the text formatting and numeric functions. The ability to confront such a potentially overwhelming topic (SQL) with such a small book is refreshing. If you are looking for a book to set you on your path to database administration or design, this one will not get you very far. You will likely be better served by the typical doorstop book. A 2nd edition has been released now, so go look for that one.
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Summary: Gets to the Point
Review: This is an excellent book for a quick reference to SQL coding. It does exactly what it says it will do. LEARN SQL in 10 minutes. Easy to understand with great examples.
Rating:
Summary: Straight to the point
Review: This book is a quick reference that got me up to speed on SQL. I worked as a Excel VBA developer, then managed to get a job developing database applications despite having no real experience in databases. This book explained everything that I needed to know to get up to speed quickly.
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Summary: A good book
Review: I was learning how to use ColdFusion and I quickly realized that I needed to have a good knowledge of SQL to succeed with CF. I picked up SQL in Ten Minutes, read it on the train, and came back with the ability to code basic queries and post informaition to the database. Every concept is clearly explained, but there are (thankfully) no long-winded examples to follow, so you get what you need and get out. I also recommend it as a reference book, although it does not explain every keyword in SQL, such as "ONCE." But it's small and will not take up a lot of space on your desk or briefcase.
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Summary: Straight to the point
Review: I am new to SQL and have found exactly what I needed in this little book : an invaluable introduction. Of course, as the author himself did, do try every single example in the book even the not-so-optimized ones.
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Summary: Great introduction into the SQL world
Review: I started with Cold Fusion and SQL a number of months ago, knowing next to nothing about either. Although this book does not cover Cold Fusion specifically, it is populated with many 10 minute lessons which can be applied to 'any' online programming language. Forta includes many real world examples on each lesson, very descriptive explanations and an overall healthy dose of common SQL syntax, including select, insert, modify, delete, where, joins, sorting, groups, like (used with searching databases), table combinations, subqueries, aggregate functions, transaction processing and much, much more. At the end of the book, Forta has included simple, easy to follow instructions on connecting to databases with popular programming languages like Cold Fusion, ASP, SQL Server, Visual Basic, Visual C++, DB2 and more. You will definitely keep this book by your side in your SQL adventures. Steve - Web developer http://www.stevesdomain.net
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Summary: Excellent SQL introduction!
Review: Great book for those who know nothing about SQL but need to get up to speed quickly. As a developer who just inherited 4 database driven projects, the book had helped immensely. Halfway through the book (page 90) you are doing advanced table joins! Four things make this a must have for SQL beginners: easy to read chapters with great explanations (I found reading cover to cover more helpful than the '10 minute' per chapter approach), a focus on e-commerce implementations in all exercises/examples, caution boxes when MS SQL Server, Oracle, and others' code may differ - with examples of the differences, and lastly the completely populated e-commerce MS Access database is available for download. Now on to the intermediate books!
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Summary: DeFacto standard for beginning SQL
Review: This is the standard for beginner SQL Server books. It cuts through the verbose theory in other books and gets straight to the syntax and applicability. Many other computer beginner books could learn a lesson from SQL in 10 minutes. The lesson is you don't have to try to cover every nook and cranny and confuse the hell out of people. Beginners are seperate from experts who are seperate from guru's. Speak to them in the language that they understand best. In other words, know your audience!! Ben Forta certainly did in this book. Bravo, Ben!
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